Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Eurorintelligence Disses Renzi/Merkel/Hollande "PR Stunt"

The leaders of the three biggest euro-area economies met aboard the Giuseppe Garibaldi on Monday.

At a summit aboard the aircraft carrier docked in Ventotene, Italy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Union needs to show it can prosper without the U.K.

“We respect Britain’s decision but naturally also want to make it clear that the other 27 are working for a prosperous, safe Europe,” said Merkel, standing alongside President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on an Italian aircraft carrier to show resolve in mastering the continent’s crises. “We need results,” she said.

Eurointelligence, created specifically to cover such EU events, dissed the show:

We had hoped to kick off today's newsbriefing with an account of the Renzi/Merkel/Hollande with an account of the Renzi/Merkel/Hollande summit in Ventotene, but the results were so shallow that we decided to ignore it. It was a PR stunt to boost Renzi's flagging reputation in his own country.

But, back in Deutschland, there was Neandrethal anti-Brit firebreathing.

Michael Fuchs, deputy parliamentary leader of Merkel’s party bloc, said Prime Minister Theresa May’s government must recognize that U.K. access to the EU’s free movement of goods, workers, capital and services won’t automatically carry over into any new relationship.

“If you’re member of a club you have certain benefits, but if you’re out, you will not have the benefits any more,” Fuchs said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Tuesday.